As I did when I visited Belmont Village Cardiff, I try and share my tour experiences when possible as there are some very dedicated people out there building and operating great communities.

I had a unique opportunity a few weeks ago to spend some time with the executive director of Atria Senior Living’s community in Irvine, California. Atria Woodbridge is a relatively new community built in 2001. The executive director, Ladd Roberts, has only been there a few years, but you can tell in the way he speaks about the property that he has an enormous amount of pride in what he does. That’s one of the main things I look for in an assisted living community, so it was refreshing to get the vibe from the beginning of our discussion.

Convenient Location

Atria Woodbridge is set between two major freeways in Orange County – the 5 and the 405 (yes, Californians actually do say “the” in front of highway numbers). This makes the community easily accessible from Los Angeles, San Diego and the Inland Empire (an area east of Orange County). It’s also only about 8-10 miles from John Wayne Airport, which I would argue is one of the easiest airports in the country to fly through.

Atria Woodbridge is tucked between two upscale strip malls, making shopping, dining and small conveniences only a few steps away. They’ve done a good job lining the community with trees to present a clean separation between the shopping center and the community. Outside the entrance sits a very inviting social area with outdoor furniture. I spend many evenings at home on the patio, and this subtle touch brought some nice memories and made a good impression.

A Grand Entry

Walking in, the first thing I noticed was the cathedral ceiling. The ceiling had exposed beams much like you would see at a ski lodge and serve a great purpose in opening up the entrance and “presenting” the community to new visitors. Under the rotunda a few steps down the hall sits a grand piano. It is the focal point of the room and the divider between the residences to the right and the activities and dining room to the left.

Real Librarians?

Most all assisted living communities have a library or community room of some sort. A few things struck me as unique at this community. First, a second piano was placed just to the left of the entrance. Ladd Roberts told me this particular piano belonged to one of the residents. I smiled because I can imagine the sense of homeliness that resident must feel knowing their “baby” is here with them. It was certainly a nice touch by Ladd to make this a centerpiece of the room.

Second, a two-sided fireplace separated the room, which added a great deal of privacy and enabled it to be used for multiple things. In fact, it was well before lunch and several groups of residents were gathered in their own groups having a nice time. (Note: if you’ve read my book, you’ll know that I recommend visiting communities outside of dining hours to measure the social level of the residents and staff)

Finally, Ladd told me the library is staffed with retired librarian residents. I thought this was a clever way of providing a sense of purpose to these ladies who no doubt have a great deal of pride in their former careers.

Confident Quality

In my book, I share tips on how to measure the quality of a community by interviewing general and executive staff. I do this because many communities don’t make quality assurance and audits a focal point of their prospective resident tours, so the burden is on the customer to perform that level of due diligence.

Surprisingly, Ladd brought this up proactively during the tour and told me a little about how Atria performs internal audits. After probing a little as to the depth of the audit, Ladd chuckled and told me that his 700 item internal audit was so detailed that he didn’t have to prepare much for the state health inspection.

To be fair, I didn’t dig into their audit paperwork and processes, but it’s been my experience that those who confidently share their quality plans and audit processes are the ones who deliver a quality product.

The Zen Master

As one might expect, Ladd was saving the best for last. The activity area of the building wraps around a courtyard. Ladd calls it the Zen Garden. Why? It was authentically decorated in a Japanese theme with waterfalls, fish and plans all over. It was very quiet with the exception of running water from the waterfall.

Ladd says this is his place to come think, and you could tell that it was a warm and happy place for many residents. For those residents that want a complete change of scenery, the Zen Garden will transport them to a different time and place.

Got plane? Wanna race?

Earlier in the tour, we were walking through the activity room and there were several model planes hanging from the roof. Ladd told me these were built by one of the residents. He shared with me a story about how they had model airplane races in the dining room one day. He boasted he had it on video and I convinced him to let me share it.

But before I show the video, I’ll end by saying that I was impressed with Atria Woodridge. I was also really impressed with Ladd Roberts and his team. I could tell he cared a great deal about his impact on the residents, and it was obvious he ran a high quality community.